In The Shadows
by Forevermore
Summary: Sequel to 'Crawling In The Dark'. One man wakes up in the clutches of a mysterious company, with no memory. When he learns more about himself, a mission is given to him. The darkness of his past unveils, as he enters the sixth Dead Or Alive tournament.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes: **Hi, this is the sequel to '_Crawling In The Dark' . It will be hard to understand this one, if not for reading that one. So, please take your time and read that one before reading this. Otherwise, nothing is understood. I wanted to post this earlier, but I hadn't found a title for it(To new readers, I always take titles for the song lyrics used in the chapter.) and so I had to go online and look for songs, world wide and so I finally found one that fitted the theme of the story. I tried to make this darker than it's prequel, please tell me if it is. Anyway, please review. Not onto the disclaimer._

**** Disclaimer: I do not own Dead Or Alive, I wish I did though. And I do not own Tecmo, so sue me (Even though, I don't think you'll get much)…. But I do own my original characters, and anyone whose read it's prequel knows who.****

Anyway, I have my own little usage of HTML text. Look below:

Normal text - the story and basically, what's happening…..

_Italic text- _thoughts, insight from certain characters, and sometimes to indicate the way a word is written, I mean, to put depth in the word.

**Bold text- **dreams, memories and flashbacks. These will be rarely placed, but can come on an occasional streak. 

**_Bold Italic text-_** Song lyrics, which I *unfortunately* don't own. There will be one in this chapter.

**In The Shadows**

****

**_* No sleep, no sleep until I'm done with finding the answer_**

**_Won't stop, won't stop before I find the cure for this cancer_**

**_Sometimes, I feel like I'm going down and so disconnected_**

**_Somehow, I feel like I'm haunted to be wanted…_**

**_I've been watching, I've been waiting_**

**_In the shadows for my time_**

**_I've been searching, I've been living for tomorrow _**

**_All my life*_**

- In The Shadows, The Rasmus

Darkness covered everything with potential to be seen, in the room. One man woke up, inside the darkness. After his long awaited awakening, he looked around. Merely, scanning the place with his eyes. Trying to recognize anything; anything at all. No thoughts or memories were displayed in his mind. At all.

Nothing. That was the word that could describe the strange nothingness, the man felt deep inside of him. The nothingness included feelings of loneliness, and being forsaken. The loneliness came from being all alone for a long time, like he had. And the feelings of being forsaken appeared with the fact that he didn't remember who he was himself, then how would others not have forsaken him already.

His life was like a puzzle, many different pieces to it; pieces to be put together and the picture to unfold. There was a difference, though. The pieces of his life, were scattered and the remains were burnt; leaving him with nothing. 

And he tried so hard to remember his past or anything that remotely had anything to do with it. To find nothing, but a waste of time; The time he spent searching his soul for memories, trying to fool himself that he'd find something….. anything. That's when he realized that he had lost his memory. In a way, he knew nothing of and probably never would. 

A man without a memory was no one and nothing could bring back memories that forever were erased inside of him. Even though, deep scars would always remain. He felt as if he had been through a traumatic moment in his past, that had scarred him for life. 

The young man looked around. He wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere he wouldn't have to feel the emptiness inside him, but he knew that it always be a part of him. If _only _he knew….. 

He knew one thing, as much as he hated to think about it, he had woken up in this mysterious place earlier. This wasn't the first time; he had woken up in this place. But those times, he tried to fall back to sleep, reminding himself that it was only a dream and that he'd wake up to reality, in his mind. More like a nightmare, a nightmare no one deserved to be haunted by. The nightmare haunted him, but it wasn't a nightmare. It was reality. The harsh reality, he had to face. No matter what, even if he tried to escape. Which was damn near impossible.

All he saw was darkness. Maybe, the darkness, which had engulfed everything, was as dark as his past. That was of course something he knew would now. If not, for a miracle. And that was something, he couldn't put his pessimistic mind to believe. He wasn't going to fool himself, again and he had no one to trust. Not even, himself.

He tried to move. To leave, to simply walk away from this place. But could he? One answer appeared clearly in his mind.

_No._

That was because, the man found himself chained to a machine-like object. His wrists and ankles were sore, and it was obvious that he had been chained there for a long time. A damn long time, and that was a shame. As hard as he tried to break loose, he couldn't. He wasn't free anymore. But then again, when had he been? 

That he could not answer. 

Light; light entered the room, almost blinding the young man. That could only mean one thing; he had been in the shadows of the darkness surrounding him for too long. The young man did however force himself to place pain upon himself, as he looked upwards to the light. The light came from a steel door, which was quickly pushed open and let a figure come in. 

He saw a silhouette, clearly as the door closed. Now, he only saw the stranger's silhouette. Could he possible know the person?

The question remained inside him. He averted his gaze to the silhouette, to see a tall muscular figure with broad shoulders; A man.

The door, which was cut in a down going diagonal form, slid shut quickly and stole all the light away from the room. 

Footsteps; He heard footsteps clearly, coming towards him. He struggled to get out of the chains, almost accomplishing that goal. He shook the chains so hard, he almost faltered. The chains did stop him from faltering, as he continued with attempts to escape the firm grip the chains held him in. 

The footsteps stopped. A small light appeared, coming from a simple cigarette lighter. The young man took a chance to look at the silhouette, because the light could disappear any minute. 

The silhouette's prime features were now seen clearly; A thin face with a deep scar and few wrinkles along it, unruly black hair and raven eyes, prevented the man from looking like the average man in the mid-forties. The older man wore a black suit, along with a devilish grin; which looked as if it couldn't even be slapped of his face. The suit indicated that he was celebrating something, and the grin displayed in his facial features was an addition to that train of thought. 

The grin was soon replaced with an evil glare; the man shot the younger man. The glare was unique and the older man looked dead serious. He wondered why, but wouldn't bring himself to think about it. It would just make him wonder why this was happening to him, why _him out of all the people, that exist on earth. _

He never really liked pondering on that, letting his pessimistic imagination fly away with him. Leaving with what he already had; nothing.  

The stranger down at him and being taller than him, made that easier to do. His eyes flashed dangerously, just as he began to speak. " Well, well, well…."

The repeated word started to annoy the younger man, who still remained silent and waited for a continuation. " Finally, you've awakened. I've been expecting you."

The words rang in the younger man's head, and the words became louder and angrier in tone, when repeated in his mind. He had no reply, to give the raven haired stranger. Nothing of any value, atleast. Or so, he thought. 

" Why…._Why am I here?" He tore away from his thoughts, and managed to stutter those words of utter confusion._

" Don't act dumb with me, boy. You know perfectly well why. And now, you will feel the pain I felt, when you left me to die two years ago. But I survived and as you can see nothing and no one can kill me. Not you, not your father." He finished off and started to play with the lighter, he held clutched in his hand. The raven haired man left, shortly after. Without a word.

He scanned an area, after a while. He saw a machine, there. It had devices and other various machines plugged into it, and looked to be very advanced. It was a circle shaped, machine, which had a metallic cover over it and was quite bulky. He realized that it was a cryogenic chamber, used for cryo-freezing bodies and preserving various genetic materials for usage in important and advanced research and experiments. There was a person inside the machine, a young woman. 

The young woman was very pale and had long auburn hair. Her eyes were of brown color that matched the one of milk chocolate perfectly. Traditional garb, that was typical ninja wear, she wore. A sleeveless blue kimono with white lining and golden Kanji letters at the back, was what she wore. The outfit fitted her slim and quite curvy body. White stockings, knee high boots and matching gloves were worn as accessories. Rare accessories, that weren't seen often. 

He noticed that the woman's eyes hid deep sorrow in them, it was strangely revealed to him by her happy disposition. Her eyes were the only thing that kept her from looking perfectly joyful. It made her unique and stuck out, in other words. 

He averted his gaze to something else; his hands and feet. 

The chains around his hands were broken, as soon as the man put his hands together and separated them, causing a piece of the chain to break apart from the rest of it. A sound was heard, clearly; it made him look back to the chamber. Nothing; hallucination was starting to get the best of him, as he had been alone for so long. 

The young man drifted out of his thoughts and back into reality. Then, he started to struggle to break loose and get out of the chains, after failing previous attempt at the action. He broke loose throwing a chain to the ground and started to unlock the other one. He punched at the metal chain, to get it away. The chain remained in it's place, and he stood up, after hearing a sound. 

The noise informed him that someone was there; creeping around in the shadows of the darkness he was in. He suddenly felt something, hit him in the head. Pain crawled through his body and he blacked out, falling unconscious to the ground and loosing all sense of control, he had; which wasn't much. His eyes closed, as his head collided with the ground. Pain shooting through his entire body, once again. 

¤

**Author's Notes: **The begin. It might seem crappy, but the story will unveil more and more, as the chapters come. This is only the prologue. Tell me what you think.

****


	2. Did My Time

**Author's Notes: **Hi. I'm trying to update this as soon as I can. School is starting in three weeks, so I'm going to try to *atleast* update once a week or once a week and half. So, by the time, it's late-august three to four chapters should be up. Hopefully.  When reading this I want you, the readers, to keep several things in mind:

**1.** When a person doesn't remember who they are, they can easily be brainwashed. I'm not continuing to talk about this point, because then I might reveal some of the story.

**2.** When the last chapter comes to mind and the encounter between the main character and the Shinobi comes to mind, think of the words: Deceit, disguise and forgery. Those are clues to the mystery of what's happening. And that will help fight the confusion, you get after this chapter. 

**3.** Also remember that Donovan and the Shinobi aren't friends. They are enemies. *But* they are working together on the deceitful plan, they are planning. 

***Warning: **Author will play with plot in this chapter and if you are not a fan of cliffhangers or mysteries…. DO NOT READ THIS!*

Anyway, onto the review responses:

**The angel of mercy: **Thanks again. I'm hoping to keep the story at the same rate of how good/bad it is.

**Joey/Mai fan15:** Thanks. I'm glad to know you like it, I had several plots in mind and didn't know which would be the best.

**Wolf Runner: **Thank you. I wanted to continue this and I tried to make my writing style better. A friend of mine, who's a fellow FanFiction writer, gave me advice. 

**TigerEyes2:** Thanks for supporting this fanfic and it's prequel.

**Did My Time**

**_* Realize that I can never win, sometimes I feel like I have failed inside_**

**_Where do I begin?_**

**_My mind is laughing at me, tell me why am I to blame on me, both will be the same _**

**_That's why I will never change this thing that's burning in me_**

**_I am the one, who chose my path_**

**_I am the one, who couldn't last_**

**_I feel the life, pulled me free_**

**_I feel the hate, you change in me*_**

- Did My Time, Korn

The strong scent of rare Japanese herbs and other various culinary filled the room, just as the warm morning breeze blew in softly. 

The man woke up, again and found himself in a different place. He scanned the place and sky blue walls and pearl white linoleum floor tiles, was what he first laid eyes on. A small wooden table, a delicate painting hung on the wall, a few decorative ornaments, and a medium sized bed, which he found himself lying in, filled out the picture. 

_Could it all just have been a dream, _the man asked himself in his mind. He remember flashbacks of the earlier night and he was still confused, over what had happened and over where he was. The happenings of the night earlier must have helped the confusion rise.

His eyes rested on the painting. It was finely drawn and had great color themes. After that, he let his eyes lip to the bed and threw the covers over to the other side. 

He slowly slipped out of bed and got up, trying to make out where he was or who he was. He still had no idea or even a subtle clue, of those two things. The location, of which he was in, could be found out at the next sight of civilization, but the mystery of who he was could remain unsolved. Forever.

He took a few steps, before feeling pain rising in his leg slowly. His senses were tested, as he looked up after hearing a high-pitched voice.

" Sit down!"

He saw a tall, rugged looking man with strawberry blonde hair, which mismatched his appearance as brown eyes with a tinge of green were added to sight. He wore a business suit, which was entirely of a dark lemon yellow color. He had a friendly look on his face, but who knew…

A woman, who looked to be around the same age as the man, entered quietly. She had dark brown hair and eyes, that matched her hair in color. The woman wore a blue dress with an apron over it. 

The woman walked towards him and put a tray, that she was holding, down on the wooden table.

There was food on it.

" W-Where am I?" The young man began. He looked around, before continuing. " And what happened?"

The man and the woman looked at him, hesitantly before the man replied. " Last night, I got a phone call from one of the DOATEC guards. I was told that there was an unidentifiable man, who had been found inside the DOATEC Laboratory and that the man had been knocked out cold. So, I headed out to the laboratory and found you. The guard tried to indentify you and used blood samples taken from your wounds and advanced computers. A name had showed up on the screen. Haru Shoruki."

The young man was confused.

" The name is yours, and that means that you are the son of a business associate, I know. And since, your father went off to business earlier, I decided to take you in. My wife, here, has been generous enough to attend to your wounds." The man said, and gestured to the woman.

" My father?" The young man asked, hoping the other man would explain more about who his father was and maybe even about who he was… in detail.

" Yes, your father is a man, known only as the Shinobi. He wanted to meet you, but was wrapped up in business." 

" Oh. Could you tell me something about myself?" The young man asked. 

" Yes, Haru. You are eighteen years of age, took various martial arts classes and had been working as an assassin; you helped your father out with assassinating people, who threatened DOATEC, the business your father owns, too." The man said.

The woman looked at the younger man, who's name appeared to be Haru, after listening to what her husband had said and began to speak, gesturing towards the food on the wooden table. " Eat. You will feel better, after you do."

Haru did, as he was told. The woman was right. 

" Thank you." Haru said, before the woman left the room.

" Your father had sent me, another mission for you to complete. It was sent to me, before you disappeared."

Haru wanted to ask about the disappearance, but didn't want more confusion to the situation, he already needed to adjust to the information he had learnt about himself, in the last couple of minutes.

" You see, there are two people, who have a grudge against your father. We assume that these people will go after your father and assassinate him." The older man began.

" Have they made a move yet?" Haru asked, interested in the mission.

" No, but they know too much about the mission. They are known as Hayate or should I say, Ein and Hitomi. They used to be projects for the experiments at DOATEC; they managed to escape and are currently seeking revenge."

The older man took out an envelope and found two pictures in them. One was of a young woman and the other of a man.

He looked at the pictures. The woman had shoulder-length sandy brown hair and clear blue eyes, she was wearing a denim jeans jacket with a dark green spaghetti strap top and a pair of jeans pants. The woman looked thoughtful.

Haru looked at the other picture, after putting the one of the woman into the envelope.

The man had auburn hair and dark brown eyes. He was muscular, too. He wore a black jacket over a fishnet shirt and wore black pants and matching boots to that. His disposition was a solemn one and was hard to make out, what it meant. They looked familiar.

" Continue." Haru said, letting the man continue to speak.

 " The mission is underway, and we have learnt that these two people are going to enter the upcoming Dead Or Alive tournament in order to do so, after winning…" The man paused. " Me and  your father have got too much to deal with and so, I thought you could do this mission. If you are willing to accept this mission, we have scheduled martial art classes for you to work on your fighting and have assigned a highly skilled tutor for you, we have signed an entry form to the Dead Or Alive tournament, which is in five months and have picked out various weaponry for you. If you are, entering the tournament do not talk to Hayate or Hitomi. There's also a girl, Yuki Hayabusa, who should be avoided. She knows a lot of things that can destroy DOATEC's reputation and cast shame over your father and his projects. Do you accept this mission, Haru Shoruki?"

Haru was interested in this mission and had decided to go through with it. He nodded in reply to the previous question. " Yes, sir."

The man scratched his head, realizing he had forgotten something. " Oh and I forgot to mention, your assistant will arrive in a few days."

With that, the man left the room, before the young assassin could complain. His retreating footsteps were heard, throughout the hall. Haru's head was filled with questions and he stood up, forgetting the pain in his leg. 

He was feeling better, both mentally and physically. He decided to get up and explore the house. 

¤

Several days had passed by, quickly and life as Haru knew it had changed. The couple, he was living with, were having strange fights and he heard his name mentioned in them many times.

As he sat in his room remembering their arguments, arguments he was not supposed to hear. Their word swayed back and forth in his mind. 

" _Donovan, dear, I think the boy should be told the truth," The woman would say. Her husband looked at her and replied. _

_" No. I can not risk that he knows anything and you know very well, what will happen to me if I let the truth slip. The plan will be ruined and you and I will be killed or have 'disappeared' traceless." _

_" I feel sorry for him, having to go through this. What if he goes through with the mission? What if the truth reveals?" The wife added, thoughtfully and frantically. " What… What if the Hayabusa-girl tells him anything?"_

_" Do not worry, dear, I'm a professional, nothing will slip. No mistakes will be made." The reply came_

Haru thought about the words, they said. They had been nice enough to take him in, but were they really that generous? 

The thought was interesting and raced around, playing in his mind. 

¤

**Author's Notes:** Who do you think Haru's assistant is? It's will be a surprise to you all. I wanted to write more, but I am *unfortunately* sick with a cold. What are the odds of getting a cold on a summer day?


	3. Figure 09

**Author's Notes: **Okay. I lied, I updated earlier, but that's not a bad thing, is it? I'm going to give you some clues in every chapter.

**1. **During cryogenic sleep, a person's memory can be erased and if certain machines are at use, during the same time as the cryo-sleep, memories can be replaced with those of a previous person, who has undergone the same treatment. 

**2. **Often, when two enemies co-operate, one ends up backstabbing the other and using whatever they have against their enemy.

**3. **Think of Kasumi's clones.

**The angel of mercy: **Thanks. I'm trying to get this one, to be better than my previous one. But I don't think it will be.

**Joey/Mai fan15: ** Thanks. Your guesses make sense and I think I will surprise you with who the assistant is. I'm not sure, though.

**TigerEyes2:** Thank you. I'm not sure how I will end the story, but I have some idea of where it will go… I think. 

**Wolf Runner: **Thanks. Well, who knows…? The assistant can be anyone! Oh and the woman, I mean, Donovan's wife, is not a Kasumi clone. 

**Nakahito: **Thanks. I tried to add more descriptions in it and I'm glad you noticed it, I didn't think anyone would. Oh and you're welcome, reviewing is probably a hobby of mine, so if you keep writing I'll keep reviewing your story!

**Figure 09.******

**_* Nothing ever stops all these thoughts and the pain attached to them_**

**_Sometimes I wonder why this is happening, it's like nothing I can do will distract me_**

**_When I think of how I shot myself in the back again_**

**_And for the infinite words I can say, I put all the pain you gave to me on display_**

**_I didn't realize instead of setting it free, I took what I hated and made it a part of me_**

**_And it never goes away….*_**

- Figure 09, Linkin Park

A few days went by, the cold weather started to come. There were about four and half months until the tournament was to start, which gave Haru enough time to practice, plan out his mission and rest. His fighting had improved, as the day of the tournament's start, April 19th, approached and he was ready for the challenge. 

Haru looked up, as the door was opened to his room. He saw a figure, he recognized as Donovan, followed by another person. It was the young female ninja, Haru had seen earlier. He must have been hallucinating, he had seen the woman in a cryogenic chamber and now she was here.

" Haru, this is Kasumi X. It, I mean, she will be your assistant," Donovan introduced the ninja. She looked around, scanning the place.

Haru looked at the two of them.

" I don't need an assistant, I work alone." Haru protested, coldly. Donovan looked at him, a little bit of anger was seen on his face. Donovan grabbed Haru by his arm, and made sure the young man followed him. 

" Excuse us." Donovan said, before the two retreated and left the female kuniochi alone.

The room was small, had white walls and cream colored floor tiles. The color theme was simple and consisted of light colors. There was an awkward silence, broken by a few words.

" I don't work with anyone, I thought I told you that… before she came."

" Haru, Kasumi X will help you. She has been in the tournaments before; she knows her way around and will be very useful to you. After you get help from her, you can just simply dispose of her." Donovan said, trying to persuade him into the co-operation.

" I see. I'll be in the Dojo." Haru said, and left downstairs. The Dojo was big and had many different items, used for exercise. Haru scanned the place, before making his way to the punching bag. 

The young man smashed his fist at the punching bag, making it swing from side to side. Another punch was swung against the object, letting small flakes of sand drop to the ground.

He kicked the bag once and resumed punching it. As he punched the bag, his inner-anger was released and he felt better inside. The only sound heard in the room, was the one of the punching against the bag. 

A knock was heard. Was he starting to day dream?

Nevertheless, Haru continued to punch. The door was opened and someone appeared. Haru didn't turn around to see who had entered. He didn't care.

" Can I train here, too?" A soft voice said, Haru thought that it must have been that ninja, Kasumi X.

Haru motioned towards the punching bag and stepped out of the way, he headed towards another machine; A treadmill. 

A loud thud was heard; Haru spun around and got off the treadmill. The young ninja had punched the bag, with a lot of force and strength; enough power to knock the punching bag off the ceiling and onto the ground, causing the sound.

His eyes widened, remembering that Donovan had forgot to mention that she was a fighter. A good one at that. 

The kuniochi continued to punch the bag and kicked it a few times, when it was lying on the ground. 

Haru averted his gaze back to the treadmill. After a while, he was out of breath, seeing as the machine was on 'Maximum speed'.

¤

Haru rolled over to his side, and awoke quickly. He heard his name being called and looked up at the ceiling. He averted his gaze to the person, in front of him; The kuniochi, Kasumi X.

" Ah, you _finally _woke up." The woman said, and crossed her arms.

Haru buried his face in his pillow, after speaking. " What do you want?"

His tone was very cold and the kuniochi tried to counter his tone, with even a colder one.

" Donovan told me to wake you up. Otherwise, I wouldn't _even _bother with you." The kuniochi muttered, and watched as the young man was starting to gain consciousness.

" It turns out, we have another mission to deal with…" She continued, gaining the Japanese youth's attention.

" We…?" He asked, almost forgetting he had to work with the ninja. Kasumi X nodded, in reply.

" Yes, we."

She left the room, after that.

¤

The living room had faded blue walls that went lighter and lighter, until the color reached pearl white from bright sky blue. Delicate and historic paintings hung in the room, as well as in every other room.

A table was also in there in the middle, standing surrounded by comfortable chairs. 

Donovan and his wife, whose name appeared to be Aiko, sat at the table in the living room. Kasumi X stood up, she wandered around the room; circling it, several times as she went.

A staircase connected the first floor to the second one, through the living room and the second floor hallway. 

" There you are." Donovan said, as he saw Haru marching down the staircase. Aiko got up, instantly and sauntered off to the kitchen to get tea. Haru was wearing a sleeveless, white, muscle shirt and a pair of black faded jeans. He wore that to bed, and had needed to change. 

Haru eyed Donovan, and then, changed to Kasumi X. 

Donovan wore another business suit, this time dark blue. His hair was messy and he looked tired, he sat in a cosy chair. Kasumi X wore a skin tight black bodysuit, which she filled out perfectly. Her long brown hair had been groomed and was held in a high ponytail. The ninja had an agitated look on her face, just like most people, who were woken at three o'clock in the morning, would.

Haru sat down, on one of the chairs, next to the female ninja, who lazily sat down and across Donovan. The older man pulled out, a picture and a piece of paper.

He handed them over, the paper to Haru and the picture to Kasumi X. " Your mission against the Ivamoto family, Hitomi and Hayate, is being planned. Meanwhile, we have a mission for you."

There was a silence, late broken by the older man. " You are to assassinate a person, who may be of danger to our plans. All our plans."

Kasumi X looked up, before speaking. She was playing with her Katana. " So, who is it we're assassinating. The Hayabusa girl? Or that freelance assassin, hired by the Maikei family?" 

Donovan waited, before replying. " Have patience, Kasumi, dear…"

The female ninja glared at him. " Don't call me, that. My name is Kasumi X."

Before Donovan could continue, Aiko entered the room. She was holding a tray with four cups of tea, which she set out on the table, infront of her husband and his houseguests. " Here." 

" Thank you." The female ninja replied, as she took one of the cups. Haru remained silent, he wasn't thirsty or hungry, for that matter. He just wanted to know what the mission was about.

Donovan reached forward and lifted his cup, drinking, prior to continuing. " Where was I… Ah, no, we are assassinating an assassin, who used to work for us and betrayed us, by helping a victim, targeted for our attacks flee. Our target is a woman, who goes by the name of Christie, but whose real name is Louisa Wellington."

Haru and Kasumi X exchanged glances, before glimpsing back at Donovan. 

" Nevertheless, she is to be destroyed. Whatever it takes, she is to be six feet under. I want you, two, to complete this mission…. carefully. This woman, Louisa, as I've mentioned, is an assassin, is residing in the south of London and has an adoptive son, by the name, of Kahuku Ka Lei. Beware, the boy is smarter and slyer, than what he might look like," Donovan repeated, importantly. 

Donovan looked at two, before adding a few words to his previous speech. " That's why, you, Haru and Kasumi X, are taking a little trip to England."

Haru let his thoughts race. " When are we leaving?"

" Oh, in about a few hours to be exact. I suggest you, pack your bags." Donovan added, and looked at the two. Kasumi X got up, and the older Japanese man remembered something. " And before, I forget….. Here."

The kuniochi looked at the item, she had received. It was a golden blonde well-groomed wig, which was cut short and a bag, identified as one of clothes. " What's this for?"

Donovan chuckled, in reply. " You two, are having disguises, Kahuku was at the last tournament, if recognizes you… you're doomed- Especially, you…" 

He pointed to the younger man. Haru was handed a box, which he didn't have much time to view.

He dashed out of the room, leaving Donovan alone with his wife. The ninja had already left.

¤

Haru put everything; he needed, in the bag. His black duffel bag was fairly large and could take everything he needed and much more.

He scanned the items, carefully: making sure, nothing was forsaken.

Cellphone, weaponry, clothes, mission description, some Japanese cash and a lot of English currency, which was needed; Yes, everything was there.

He left toward the bathroom, which was connected to his room. He cast a glance over his bed, making sure nothing was forgotten. He strode into the bathroom, after that and closed the door, behind him. He looked at the mirror. 

The mirror, held his reflection, staring back at him. Haru looked at himself, and quickly shifted to looking at the box, he held.

It was a box of hair color; he looked at the picture on the front. It notified him, of that the color, his hair was going to be was a black color with a tinge of navy blue.

" Not my color, at all. But oh well…" 

He started to prepare for what he was about do, as much he hated it. He opened the box, and surveyed the contents. 

_Anything for undercover, _the thought went through his inner-workings and then, he drifted out of thoughts. He proceeded with moderately changing his rugged appearance.

After a while, he showered and wrapped a towel around himself, starting underneath his stomach, revealing his muscles.

After doing so, he left and then, entered his room. He looked at his nightstand, seeing attire set out on there. He looked at the clothes, after glancing at the clock. Seeing as time wasn't exactly on his side, he quickly grabbed the clothes and started to dress up.

¤¨

It took fifteen minutes, for him to get ready. He was now wearing a dark blue, button down shirt and pair of matching pants of the same material. A pair of matching accessory were worn; A pair of black sunglasses and designer black shoes, that somewhat matching the color theme. 

His black hair was spiky, and the almost metallic dark blue color in it, was shining, when touched by light. 

He looked at his watch, which showed the time as being six o'clock in the morning. Seeing, as he didn't want to be late and eventually following the consequences to that, miss the flight; he picked up his bag and headed downstairs.

As he made his way down, he saw Donovan and Aiko sitting there, drinking another round of early morning tea.

Aiko smiled at him, as she sipped her tea slowly. Donovan glanced at his watch. " Have you seen Kasumi X?"

Haru shook his head and took a seat, next to them. Donovan cursed loudly in Japanese, letting Aiko give him a look.

" You always were the eloquent one, Donovan." Aiko remarked and laughed. She slumped against her seat, sipping some more tea. 

Aiko got up, and dusted herself off. 

" I'll go tell her to hurry up." The older Japanese woman said, before leaving the room. 

Aiko had got to the staircase, before seeing a somewhat familiar figure. Kasumi X. 

Kasumi X had a more European look to her, instead of the usual ninja garb, she wore. Her brown hair was covered by the blonde wig, which stopped a little below her chin. Not a strand of brown hair, was seen and that was good. Another difference was that she wore blue contact lenses, covering her intense brown eyes. 

She wore a bronze colored jacket, over a sleeveless pearl white button-down shirt. A white and beige plaid skirt made it's way down her curvy figure. High heeled golden brown shoes were an accessory, worn on her feet. She held a small beige hand bag, over her left shoulder and held a slightly bigger one.

" You look great," Aiko commented. " Both of you."

" We don't have time to chat; we need to get going…" Donovan said, and quickly lead the two out of the room.

" We have to stop at the left side entrance of the airport, near the phone booth and the small photo machine. We need passport pictures for you." The older man explained, as they walked out of the building. A brand new-looking red car was standing outside, parked on the street.

Donovan walked towards it, and started to talk to the man inside in fluent Japanese. He motioned for the younger man and woman, to make their way over there and get into the car.

The car door was pulled open and the ninja stepped in first, followed by the young man. 

" Here." Donovan said, and handed the two plane tickets. With that, Donovan left and the car drove away. Haru looked out of the window, as the car drove further and further away, from the place he considered his 'home'.

¤ 

 The two got out, quickly. Donovan had already paid the driver, to take them there. Kasumi X led the way, seeing as she knew the way.

The two wandered around the crowded airport. The female kuniochi stopped infront of a machine, she bent down and put some coins into it. She got into the machine, after that. 

Haru waited outside, after he had heard three sounds, indicating three pictures being taken, Kasumi X stepped out of the machine and pushed him. He looked up, before quickly entering. 

There was a wide-screen before him, which was monitored by a camera, showing him and what he did. He clicked the button, taking the first picture.

Click.

The second picture followed, after he had changed the expression displayed on his features.

Click. 

He accidentally clicked the button a third time. 

Click. 

He looked at the screen, seeing a blank screen, indicating that all the pictures had been taken.

Haru looked at Kasumi X, who waved a small leaflet of pictures before him. She carefully showed the leaflet in her bag.

" Let's go," She said, and led her partner in crime, to follow.

They walked through the airport, strolling around the area and stopped at the gate. Haru read the screen above them. " Flight 413, Kobe, Japan to London, England boarding in twenty minutes."

Kasumi X remembered the photos, and tapped Haru on the shoulder. " I'll be right back."

Haru wasn't paying attention and looked up to see the ninja running out of sight. He waited for a while, and looked at his bag. He hoped the alarm wouldn't go off, when he pushed the bag through the small machine. 

Haru watched as his bag, went through. Luckily, the alarm was slow and went off, when the next bag was pushed through. A bag, that didn't belong to him. A few guards appeared and started search the bag of the person, behind him. 

Haru smirked and looked up, as Kasumi X entered and was there, by his side. She pushed her bag, through the machine and waited for it to go over to the other side of the machine, where a man stood; Ready to carry all luggage on to the plane. 

The female ninja handed him his new passport. He looked at the picture, seeing as she had switched the real photo of the person; the passport belonged, to his own photo. 

" Nice work," Haru said, unenthusiastically and looked at the plastic, concealing the photo and protecting it, from being damaged. There were no traces of marks of the photo, being switched. 

Kasumi X smiled, as a woman was there to check her passport and she handed her passport and plane ticket over to the woman; the woman did her job and let her pass onto the plane. 

Haru looked up, seeing as the woman was suspiciously eying the passport. 

" You don't look British?" The woman said. Her voice was accented with Japanese and her tone was suspicious and glanced at the passport. " _What was your name, again?"_

_Damn. Don't panic, or show signs of nervousness, _Haru continuously reminded himself in his mind.

He realized he had forgotten to look at his name and identity. But then again, being questioned was rare.

Haru looked up, at the woman confidently and tried his best to pull of a British accent. " I don't think I have to justify myself to you. Look at my passport, you ignorant fool."

The woman gave him a rude look, but looked down and started to do what she was supposed and let him pass. 

Kasumi X stood near the passage, leading to the plane. She walked to the plane, side by side, with Haru.

They got into the plane and had looked at their seat numbers. They found their seats and were among the last people to enter the plan and most of the seats were already taken. Haru slumped against the chair and put on the seatbelt, after a flight attendant's voice came on speaker phone, telling everyone to.

" If you mess up, the mission, you will be disposed off, too." Haru whispered in Kasumi X's ear.

She looked at him, before quietly replying. " Oh, I'd like to see you try. Many people have tried to get rid of me, but have failed. I've been targeted, since I am a clone of the ninja Kasumi. The nineth clone and the only surviving clone." 

The plane started to drift off into the air; Haru looked out of the window and began to fall asleep, seeing as he was very tired. 

¤

**Author's Notes: **I left a clue for you, as the title being 'Figure 09.' and I thought someone would think of cloning and then, Kasumi X. Kasumi X doesn't have a real personality, and I decided to make her evil and to make her, a person, who doesn't get along with Haru. Oh, you'll find out why Christie is to be assassinated. Donovan set the whole thing up to get rid of and to have some time to plan out Haru's other important mission: The assassination of Hitomi and Hayate. I hope this isn't rushed, which I thought it was…

Anyway, I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by the 15th or 16th of August. Tell me, what you think!


	4. Paper Cut

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for all the nice reviews. As, I'm telling you, guys, I don't know when I'll update and updating from now on, won't be as frequent, as before. 

**Clues:**

**1.** Read the song, and think of it. It will definitely, give you ideas of the mystery. Clues.

**2. **Think of DOATEC, in the future. I mean, you know how advanced DOATEC is (As, of DOA 3 storyline.) and imagine it twenty years later and how it could have improved.

Onto the review responses:

**Joey/Mai fan15: ** Yeah, Figure 09 is a cool song; it's one of my favorite songs on Meteora. And yeah, I've got the album. I've seen the thing, you were referring to. It's pretty cool, Delta are miracle workers :D. Oh, and you're not stupid, I give very subtle clues.

**Nakahito: **Thanks. I'm glad you're gonna update soon, I was starting to wonder where your story went! I'm glad you like how the story's going; I thought the new mission would ruin the whole thing.

**TigerEyes2: **Thanks. I'm glad you like the story, so far.

**Paper Cut**

*** _I don't know what stressed me first or how the pressure fed_**

**_But I know what's like to have a voice, in the back of my head_**

**_It's like a face, that I hold inside_**

**_A face, that awakens, when I close my eyes_**

**_A face. that watches, every time I lie_**

**_A face, that laughs, every time I fall_**

**_[And watches everything]_**

**_So, I know that when it's time to sink or swim, that the face is hearing me_**

**_Right underneath my skin_**

**_It's like I'm…. _**

**_Paranoid, lookin' over my back, _**

**_It's like a…_**

**_Whirlwind, inside my head_**

**_It's like I… _**

**_Can't stop what I'm hearing within_**

**_It's like the…_**

**_Face is right beneath my skin*_**

- Paper Cut, Linkin Park

The plane had arrived in England, after a few hours. To pass the time, Haru had slept.

 Haru awoke, to hear a loud voice. " The plane has now landed. You may exit the plane to the left door and don't forget your bags, if lost they may be irretrievable and according to airline company's policy, will not be replaced. If you're looking for your other bags, that weren't carry-on, go to the lobby." 

Kasumi X nudged Haru, and gave him his duffel bag. She, then, grabbed her own bag and started to follow her partner. 

Haru walked through the hall, to the left and made his way out of the plane. He was relieved, when he saw the darkness of the night approaching. 

Kasumi X looked at the machines, which sent out the bags rolling out onto another machine. She frantically looked around, for her bag as she walked. Her walking looked weird, because she hadn't adjusted to using high heeled shoes.

Haru, on the other hand, could care less about the bags. He stood at the end of the hall, looking down over London. The sky was dark blue, notifying him that night time had approached and the only light seen was from the cars, driving at full speed.

He turned around to look at his partner. He looked up to see her, standing there and yelling at the woman, standing in the front desk. 

_Damn._

The word rang in his head, when he realized why she was shouting at the woman; their bags must have been lost. He was too caught up in his thoughts to realize that Kasumi X had came into sight and was by his side.

Before, she could say anything; he asked her a simple question. Or was it two. " What… has happened…. Why were you yelling at that woman?"

The female ninja looked very infuriated. She tried to explain. " Those bastards sent our bags, to the wrong airport."

The young man, beside her, swore in Japanese. Kasumi X continued to add more to her explanation. 

" The woman said, she can have them sent here. But that will take a while, the bags will be here in three days."

" Now, we got two alternatives; we can get them back tomorrow, or we can call up Donovan later and ask him to send everything we need. First, we have to get to our hotel." Haru said. His tone was cool.

He was trying to be as tranquil, as he could be and deal with the situation, in the best way; that was to deal calmly.

" Let's go, then." Kasumi X remarked, and followed suit. 

The two left the building quickly. They two stood outside the building. The street was empty, strangely enough and Police car sirens were heard at full volume heard. 

Haru picked up, his cellphone and dialled for a taxi car, to come. The two waited in the dark, hoping the car would show up soon.  

After a few minutes, they saw a yellow car with words scrawled across it and identified it as the vehicle, they were looking for. 

Haru started to talk to the driver and paid him, before getting into the small car.

¤

The car stopped, the two stepped out and started walking towards the hotel.

As soon, as the young assassin and the ninja entered, a receptionist slowly turned around and was at their service. 

" Hello, miss, what can I help you with?" A middle aged Japanese woman said, she waited for a reply.

" My friend and I have had  two rooms, booked for us." Kasumi X responded, confidently. Haru looked around.

" Yes, what suite numbers, did you have booked?" The woman replied, before typing something into the computer, by her side.

" Suite 168, and suite 169." Kasumi X replied. She waited, as the woman started to type. She turned around and looked at Haru, who was looking around. 

" Ah, yes, we have two rooms booked by a Victor Donovan, is that correct?" The woman continued. 

The two nodded in unison, and the woman looked at them, quizzically.

The woman, then, bent over and had the Japanese ninja two keys with three-digit-numbers engraved into them.

Haru adjusted his dark sunglasses, before following. He pressed the elevator button and muttered a few words. " You take suite 168, I take 169."

¤

Haru looked up, as Kasumi X entered the room. He averted his gaze to his watch. It had gone half an hour, since they checked into the hotel and settled down in their rooms. 

" I've talked to Donovan, on the phone and until the bags arrive, we are to find out as much about the target and infiltrate her personal space; Her home, in other words." Haru began.

" And so, to our luck, the target 'Christie' is out of town. That gives us time, to infiltrate her house and plan out our mission, to the very last detail." Haru continued, explaining thoroughly. " But there is _however a catch; You see, her adoptive son, Kahuku is staying at the house."_

The expression on Kasumi X's face, changed drastically as she heard the last few words, he had uttered. Instead, of the sneaky grin displayed on her features, an utterly surprised and enraged look appeared.

" Well, what do we do… then?" She asked, and folded her arms over her chest, in a cross pattern.

Haru looked down at the ground, then up at Kasumi X. Thoughts raced around in his mind. 

" And before you ask, no. He won't be off any trouble. Even though, He's very sneaky, more than just the average amateur assassin… but I think we can outsmart him." Came the bold reply. 

" Of course, it's too late to start out mission. Go. Leave…." The young man, added coldly. Very coldly. 

The Japanese woman quickly took off. Before, she left, Haru said a few words. " Remember, five am. Don't be late."

The female kuniochi left, soon after. The door was slammed shut.

¤

Haru threw himself onto his bed. He lay, looking up at the ceiling as the darkness of the night came, bringing it's midnight blue color upon the starlit sky. He got up, again, and slowly made his way to the window. The large window began from a meter above the ground, and went all the way up to the roof. There was a wide space on the window sill, big enough to be walked on. But that of course, had dangers. If a single mistake was made, a person would drop down, the nine floors and plummeting to a quick, yet painful death. Landing to be splattered against the concrete street and have all intestines smashed onto the ground, with it's quantity of blood.

To most people, that would be a very morbid and disgusting thought. But to him, in the confused state of mind… he was in, it was an interesting thought. He actually wouldn't mind it. 

The confusion and emptiness, he felt within himself, had taken it's toll on him. But if anything were to happen to him, he would feel angry. Angry for not sticking around long enough to find out the truth. But then again, he couldn't control fate, not even his own, no one could. The only thing, he could do, was to choose the path, he took. 

It was a choice, between the good and the evil. A choice, between being pure of sin and between, being bound in the dark and evil. Forever. 

And that lead to either the seven Heavens or the nine levels of Hell. 

He was caught up in his thoughts, as he looked out of his window. To see, the stars winking down at him, like a million flirting eyes. 

¤

They walked down the lane. Haru looked at the map, he held in his hand as he walked. 

Kasumi X stopped walking, and looked around, surveying the house. " This is it."

Infront of them, stood a large manor. The grey building was made of bricks and was built in an old fashioned style, when it came to the structure and design. 

" You sure?" Haru asked, glancing at the house. She nodded and started to walk towards the back of the house, looking for a back door.

" Wait here." The ninja crept up, beside the wall and started to study the inside of the house from the open window. She saw furniture and different assorted items, there for decoration. 

She ducked, as a person was seen inside. A young raven haired man walked into the living room, from the hall. The man put on his jacket and his shoes and was about to leave. 

He didn't see the ninja and that was a miracle. 

Haru started to walk towards the ninja, who slumped to the ground. She sat there and rested on the ground. She sighed of relief. 

Haru slowly circled the back yard, and stopped. He heard something. 

_No one is there, stop being so paranoid. _The voice in his head, reminded him, after he looked over his shoulder.

He heard it, again.

_It's probably just someone walking past the house, or something. _

The sound was repeated and both the young man and the female kuniochi could make out, what it was….

One word repeated itself in the young man's head: 

_Footsteps._

¤

**Author's Notes: **A cliffhanger! Anyway, I'm starting school in exactly six days (* A long line of curse words are heard*) and I don't want my writing to interfere with my school work, grades or my martial arts. Updates will be as often as I can, and I will very stressed, so it might not be as often as I hope. I won't give up on this fanfic, though.

BTW, the tournament will be coming up, in a few chapters and I need some more characters, I already have like thirty, but I need more…

Oh and if anyone wants any changes for their character (From _'Crawling In The Dark'_), delete their character (Keep in mind, that it can be hard for me, to get rid of characters) or anything, notify me. If you have any suggestions, suggest them! Thanks for reading, bye.


	5. With This Knife

**Author's Notes:** Hey, everyone (or anyone reading this, I'm not sure whether I have any readers left. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't have.) Anyway, I wanted to update this now, because school ends soon and I might not be able to update since I'll be busy during the holiday. So, I'm going to try to update often. Mark the _try_, I'm not promising that I will… I will try.  Onto the review responses:

**Hikari Kuu:** Thanks! Hmm… you'll just have to see who Haru and Kasumi X heard… I'm evil… Wait a minute, I'm not… you're going to find out who it was in this chapter. Btw, your story is wonderful.

**Joey/Mai fan15:** Long time no see, eh? No, wait, that's should be 'long time no write, eh?'… Oh well, who cares anyway… It takes sometime to update since I have to plan everything I write. I'm not sure about a lot of things, even though I have two possible endings. Sorry for not updating…. Speaking of which, what about your story? You have to update soon, you can't just leave your readers in suspense, that's a cruel and unusual punishment! Ignore that, I'm being a real hypocrite right now… I hate hypocrites. Anyway, I should stop rambling. 

**Wolf Runner:** Thank you. I try to make it interesting. Wait a sec, why haven't you written anything lately… I haven't seen any of your work for ages.

**TigerEyes2:** Thank you for your wonderful reviews, they're very encouraging… (*hears coughing sounds*) As are all the reviews I get. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing.

**With This Knife**

**_* I let myself fall into a lie_**

**_I let my walls come down_**

**_I let myself smile and feel alive_**

**_I let my walls come down_**

**_No matter how hard I try_**

**_I don't know why…*_**

   -  With this knife, Smile Empty Soul**__**

****

The footsteps were now heard clearly, it was not a person. What could it have been?

_Now it can't be… Could it?  _Kasumi X was bothered by her thought patterns, as the footsteps came closer and became soundly louder. Whoever or whatever it was sure was walking quickly. 

Haru looked up as he saw heard something jump out from in front the building. Now they knew what it was. A black panther. 

_Figures…_  The runaway ninja thought, relieved. The panther was barking, and looked very angry. 

_Wait a sec, why is the panther running around in the garden without supervision… That must mean… Christie. Is. Home._

The ninja slid against the wall, she tilted her head to get a glance at the garden. She saw enough, her fears were now confirmed. She saw someone from a far; it was a woman who was wearing a hat and wore a white sundress. She was coming towards and them and was coming closer. 

The ninja's heart beat was at quick tempo and she tried to explain what was going on. " Haru, someone's coming… And I think it's Christie."

" What?" He paused. " Why didn't you tell me?"

" I just noticed it." The runaway ninja said, as the panther's continued barking. Loudly. 

Haru caught a glance at the woman, who thoughtlessly wandered. He saw enough to know two things; what to do and that the woman wasn't Christie. " Just follow my lead."

The woman was there. She looked up in terror as she saw the two. 

" Who are you, two, and what are you doing?" came the question. 

" Oh, I'm sorry; I think we've got the wrong address." Haru replied, he turned around and looked the runaway ninja, while attempting to whisper in a loud tone, so the woman would hear. " See, I told you Aunt Christie lived in the next house."

The woman stopped for a second, " Wait a minute, I'm the housekeeper. I don't live here, I think you've got the right address afterall."

It was working. 

" Might I interest you to come in for a cup of tea?" The woman added with a smile. The two, now, saw the woman. She was quite old, perhaps in her early sixties. 

" Yes, thank you… I'd love that…" Kasumi X replied. Haru shot her a glare. The woman didn't notice and lead them into the house. 

The house was beautifully decorated. The living room had pictures and painting hung high. The woman motioned towards a sofa, where the two sat down. She hurried off, to cook some tea and to offer them something to eat. 

" Why did you say 'yes', we're not supposed to drink tea with the housekeeper… we're supposed to murder someone…. Remember?" Haru angrily muttered in a low tone. 

" Relax, how bad can this be?" She replied, as she rested her head on her shoulder. 

" And you ask this question, don't you realize that this woman could tell Christie that someone was here to visit her… I just made that up, so we could have some sort of excuse to come from the back of the building instead of just using the driveway." The angry reply came. 

" Look, nothing will happen… The woman's probably senile, anyway…" Kasumi X exclaimed. 

" Whatever. Atleast we have an excuse to be in the house."

¤

It took a while, before the housekeeper came back. Kasumi X immediately attacked the plate of biscuits. Haru arched a brow at her, but averted his eyes to the housekeeper, who spoke.

" So, Christie's your aunt. I thought she didn't have any siblings."

Haru looked up at pictures, it was a way to avoid the question. " Excuse me, what did you say? I wasn't paying attention. I mean, these pictures are certainly distracting. Aunt Christie sure has good taste, don't you think?"

" I agree. Now, I forgot where I was… wait a minute…" There was a pause. The young man looked up at the pictures. A certain black and white picture caught his attention. In the picture there were two little girls, one was taller than the other. There was another difference other than a few facial differences that separated the two, one was cheerful and the other was sad. At the bottom of the picture, there was writing: ' Louisa, aged 8, and Amy, aged 6.'

" As I was saying, I didn't know Christie had siblings. She's never talked about her family."

" Oh, yes, it's a sore subject. It brings a lot of bad memories. You see, our mother, Amy, died and she and Aunt Christie didn't get along, even though they were the only two people left. It also brings up the memory of our grandparents, who were murdered, when our mother and Aunt Christie were small. That's why Aunt Christie values that picture so much." Haru lied, and pointed toward the picture. 

Kasumi X looked up at it, as well, and added a few words to the lie. " On the way, here, I wonder whether surprising Aunt Christie was good. I mean, we should have called her and told her before, and then she wouldn't be sad when she sees us..."

" What do you mean?" The older woman was now interested, and was definitely buying their lies.

" Well… Aunt Christie would remember mother when she saw us and that would make her sad. I think coming here was the wrong thing to do, so if we leave before Aunt Christie comes I would advise you not to tell her. The last time, she saw us was the funeral…"

Kasumi X buried her head in her hands and looked sad. The older woman grabbed a box of Kleenex, which she handed Kasumi X. " It's okay, I just… really need to get over this…"

" I wouldn't want to upset Christie, although, I think she would be happy to know that you guys came to visit her." There was a silence. 

Kasumi X decided to change the subject. " It's warm in here, I don't know why I haven't bothered to keep my jacket on… Do you know where I could hang it? Is there a coat rack anywhere?"

She had scanned the area earlier and had seen that there wasn't any coat rack or wardrobe downstairs, that would give her a reason to go up to the second floor.

" We don't have one, but I'm sure Christie wouldn't mind if you hung your jacket in her room. It's the room furthest to the left, down the hall."

" Thanks." Kasumi X walked away, she blinked at Haru and gave him a look, that told him to 'keep the woman distracted'.

¤

Kasumi walked up the stairs, and looked at the hall. There were a few rooms, only one was open. She looked into it. It must have been the room of a young adult, or perhaps a teenage. It was spotlessly painted in black and there were morbid pictures hung on the wall. The mark of an assassin. Now, Kasumi was sure of that it was Kahuku's room, as she found the wardrobe. It had two parts; a lower part where he had clothes and upper part, where he kept private belongings. She found something interesting, as she scrolled through the belongings; prescription pills. Her imagination practically ran away with her, as she thought of different ways to kill the assassin.

¤

Haru had started talking with the woman and had distracted her. He had told a countless lies and filled up all the plot holes of his previous lies, such as him and Kasumi being related to Christie even though they were clearly Japanese, which he easily explained by talking about having a Japanese father and a British mother. Another lie was about why Christie called herself Christie although her name was Louisa; this lie was harder to explain. He told the woman that Christine was Christie's middle name and that she always hated the first name, so she went by a shortened version of her middle name. 

Strangely enough, the housekeeper believed the lies.

Haru started to get tired of being there, since the woman bombarded him with questions, which made things hard to explain. He looked up as Kasumi X came down the staircase, and waited for the right moment to make up an excuse for leaving.

¤

Kasumi X looked up at the road ahead as she got into the car. The driver, Donovan had hired for them, started driving toward the hotel. 

" What did you do to assassinate Kahuku? Did you find out anything that we didn't know or that could help us?" Haru asked, wondering why Kasumi had been upstairs for more than five minutes.

" Well, let's just say I put something in his pills and leave it at that." She said smugly, and smiled an evil smile. 

" Good. For once, you've done something right." Haru complimented, not considering that the clone could have easily done something wrong or not have poisoned the assassin. It was uncharacteristic of him, not to distrust her motives.

¤

**Author's Notes:** Short chapter, huh? It's like 1915 words, including this text. I know it's rushed, but hey, I had one hour and nothing to do. I hope to update soon, and clear out the misunderstandings in this chapter (I think it was confusing and probably, weird.)

Anyway, I have to study; I have a VERY IMPORTANT presentation tomorrow at school. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it. 

Anyway, until next time…


End file.
